GovCon Bid and Proposal Insights
GovCon Bid and Proposal Insights
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Support for Geospatial Shared Services
In this episode, we explore the latest Sources Sought notice from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), focused on support for the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and Geospatial Shared Services. This is a key early-stage market research effort aimed at identifying qualified organizations for a potential multiple-award IDIQ contract. We break down the draft Statement of Work (SOW), the relevant NAICS code (541519), and what capabilities the USGS is looking for in future partners. If your team has geospatial, IT, or data governance expertise—this is one to watch.
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We are absolutely drowning in data these days, but when it comes to truly understanding the world around us, the where, the what, the how it all connects geographically, that raw information needs to be well refined, made actionable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like having a mountain of ingredients versus, you know, a perfectly prepared meal. One's useful, the other isn't quite there yet.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. Today we're taking a deep dive into a fascinating document from the United States Geological Survey, the USGS. It's all about finding support for something called the Federal Geographic Data Committee, or FGDC, geospatial shared services.
Speaker 2:And what's really interesting right off the bat is that this isn't actually about awarding a contract, not yet anyway. Right, it's more like a high stakes reconnaissance mission. You could say yeah, the USGS has put out what they call a sources sought synopsis. So essentially they're doing market research, tapping into the intelligence out there to see who has the specific expertise to help the FGDC manage and sort of leverage this huge universe of geospatial data.
Speaker 1:It's like a call out who's got the right stuff.
Speaker 2:Precisely, it's the government putting out feelers saying who out there really excels at this kind of thing.
Speaker 1:And at the heart of this you've got some key players obviously the USGS, then the FGDC, which acts like the central nervous system for coordinating all the geospatial activities across the federal government. The Department of the Interior is a co-chair there too, which is important.
Speaker 2:And it's all in service of building the National Spatial Data Infrastructure the NSDI, the NSDI. And just to connect that to the bigger picture, the NSDI is basically the essential framework. It's the policies, the standards, the tech, all designed to make geospatial data readily available and, crucially, integrated.
Speaker 1:So different systems can talk to each other.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and the bedrock for this whole thing is the Geospatial Data Act of 2018. That's the legislation that really set the wheels in motion for a lot of this.
Speaker 1:Okay, so our mission for this session, our deep dive is to cut through the jargon and really understand what kind of support the government is looking for to manage this incredible wealth of location-based information.
Speaker 2:And maybe even more importantly, explore why this initiative actually matters to you, the listener, and how it shapes well, how we understand the world we live in.
Speaker 1:So that raises the first big question why? Why are these geospatial shared services even necessary?
Speaker 2:Well, the document makes it pretty clear the FGDC's core job is to spearhead building this national spatial data infrastructure, the NSDI. They're the orchestrators. They're trying to synchronize all the different geospatial things happening across tons of government agencies. Imagine trying to conduct an orchestra where everyone's playing from a different sheet of music.
Speaker 1:Yeah, chaos. That's the challenge the FGDC is tackling.
Speaker 2:Precisely.
Speaker 1:And for you, the listener, maybe you're looking to get up to speed on things quickly and thoroughly. This is where it clicks. The basic goal here is to make sure all this incredibly diverse geospatial data maps, satellite images you name it can be easily brought together, easily analyzed.
Speaker 2:Yes, the unified.
Speaker 1:Think about trying to manage a national forest right. If your data on trees, wildlife, water, if it's all in different, incompatible formats, making good decisions gets exponentially harder.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and they specifically mentioned geoplatformgov. That's important.
Speaker 1:Okay, tell us about that.
Speaker 2:Think of it as the central online library. It's where this shared geospatial data is supposed to live and be accessed. It's a really key piece for actually making the NSDI work in practice a single door to all this information.
Speaker 1:Right, a portal, and the overarching ambition, as the USGS document puts, it is pretty big Deepen our understanding of the physical and cultural parts of our world and also push forward spatial data infrastructures, you know, here and globally.
Speaker 2:It's about getting a more holistic view, a more connected view of the planet.
Speaker 1:OK, so that's the why. Let's get into the what, the scope of work. What kinds of services are they actually looking for?
Speaker 2:It's really broad spectrum.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The document lays out everything from like programmatic and administrative health.
Speaker 1:Day-to-day stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, facilitation, communication, support, architectural guidance, data, standards, expertise and then a whole range of technical services. It's really comprehensive.
Speaker 1:It really is. Let's make it more concrete. Can you give some examples?
Speaker 2:Sure, so they need support for the FTDC itself and also for the National Geospatial Advisory Committee, the NGAC. This means the essential operational tasks organizing meetings, helping with strategic planning, admin support, just making sure things run smoothly. Facilitation. And the NGAC is important because Well, the NGAC is crucial because it brings in perspectives from outside the federal government. You get input from state, local, tribal governments, the private sector, academia.
Speaker 1:Ah, so it's not just an internal government thing.
Speaker 2:No, exactly that. Diverse input is vital to make sure the whole approach is well-rounded and, you know, effective for managing these national resources. Got it?
Speaker 1:whole approach is well-rounded and effective for managing these national resources, got it? Then there's something called the National Geospatial Data Asset, or NGDA, data themes Sounds technical.
Speaker 2:It sounds technical, but it's essentially about coordinating the effort to develop, maintain and share the most critical foundational geospatial data sets.
Speaker 1:Like what kind of data?
Speaker 2:Think about fundamental stuff like elevation models, administrative boundaries, state lines, county lines or the National Transportation Network roads, railways.
Speaker 1:Right, you definitely don't want different agencies having conflicting data on where a state line is. Imagine the inefficiency. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And what's really interesting is just the scale and diversity data within the NSDI. The support services they want are designed to make sure data from all these sources federal, state, local, tribal, private sector, academia can actually interact, can be used together. Effectively.
Speaker 1:Which brings us back to standards, I guess.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That leads right into geospatial data standards. This is where they need expert help defining and implementing the rules of the road.
Speaker 1:Like.
Speaker 2:Like how to describe the data itself, that's, metadata. Think of it like a library catalog card, but for maps and data. And also how to ensure different geospatial services can work together smoothly.
Speaker 1:Interoperability you mentioned that earlier.
Speaker 2:Yes, interoperability. It's absolutely key here. If different data sets use incompatible languages or formats, trying to combine them to get meaningful insights becomes incredibly hard, very resource intensive.
Speaker 1:Standards provide the common language.
Speaker 2:Exactly. And then there's the geospatial platform support. That's basically keeping geoplatformgov running the ongoing operation and maintenance, making sure it's a reliable gateway to all that data and metadata.
Speaker 1:And it's worth noting. The document points this out the chosen organizations won't be working in a vacuum.
Speaker 2:No, definitely not.
Speaker 1:They'll be collaborating with lots of agency partners, maybe even other contractors, under this multiple award IDIQ contract structure.
Speaker 2:Right, the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract. Yeah, that gives the government flexibility to order services when they need them. Over the next, what five years?
Speaker 1:That's the anticipated ordering period, yeah, which suggests a pretty significant long-term commitment here.
Speaker 2:Mm-hmm and the specific tasks. They'll be defined in firm fixed price, performance-based task orders. Meaning for each specific job, the deliverables and the measurable outcomes will be clearly set out up front. That ensures accountability, Clear expectations.
Speaker 1:Okay, so we've covered the what and the why. Now let's really dig into the how. Let's look at the technical and functional requirements. What specific skills, what experience are they actually looking for in these potential partners? This gives us a real feel for what they think is essential deep tech knowledge Right.
Speaker 2:They also need organizations with a proven track record of coordinating effectively across a really diverse set of groups government agencies at all levels, nonprofits, private companies.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. Collaboration is key, and a deep understanding of the relevant policy seems critical too. They specifically mentioned needing a strong grasp of the Geospatial Data Act itself, the Federal Advisory Committee Act and several important OMB circulars. Those are the rules about how government manages data and IT.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and connecting that back. These rules are there to ensure responsible use of taxpayer money and to promote transparency and access to government information, so anyone helping out needs to know this framework inside and out.
Speaker 1:So policy knowledge is big, and beyond policy they want core program management skills, strategic planning, governance, even financial management.
Speaker 2:Right. It underscores that this isn't just about the data tech. It's managing a complex, long-term program holistically.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then we get into the deep technical stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes, Demonstrated experience with geospatial system architecture following open standards like from OGC and ISO, and that critical ability to make different systems talk to each other. Interoperability again, it keeps coming up Because it's fundamental, and the requirements get even more specific when you look at the data itself. They want organizations with strong experience in spatial data management. Ensuring data quality Accuracy is important, crucial and a deep understanding of metadata standards like FGDC, csdgm, iso 19115, dcat. These are the technical specs that provide the essential context for the data.
Speaker 1:It's also interesting they emphasize modern software development methods.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the mention of agile methodologies signals they want a flexible, iterative approach for building and maintaining these complex systems.
Speaker 1:And they seem to be looking ahead too, requiring familiarity with machine-readable data, ai, machine learning, even large language models.
Speaker 2:But that's definitely forward-looking. Imagine using AI to automatically spot changes in land use across the country almost in real time. That's the kind of advanced capability these technologies might enable down the road.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Including AI and ML, suggest they want to squeeze even more value, richer insights from all this geospatial data.
Speaker 1:And given how critical access is, it's no surprise they want expertise in cloud-based geospatial web services.
Speaker 2:With a big emphasis on security. They specifically mentioned FISMA Moderate or Higher which is it's a specific federal security standard. That level is crucial given how sensitive location data can sometimes be.
Speaker 1:Makes sense, and what about the people actually using this stuff?
Speaker 2:Good point. They need experience in usability assessments, gathering user requirements, because, at the end of the day, the data and tools need to be intuitive, user-friendly, otherwise, what's the point?
Speaker 1:True, the document also lists a whole bunch of specific geospatial technologies.
Speaker 2:Quite a list ESRI's GIS suite, qgis, which is open source, cloud platforms, other open source tools like GeoNote, geoserver. It shows the diverse tech landscape. They're dealing with Commercial open source. It's all in the mix.
Speaker 1:And they don't just want people who know the names of the tools.
Speaker 2:No, they stress needing practical experience in the day-to-day operations, maintenance, security of these systems in the cloud, including migrating between cloud platforms, which can be tricky.
Speaker 1:Right and crucially.
Speaker 2:Crucially, experience, providing user support and training, making sure people can actually use the tools and data effectively.
Speaker 1:And it all kind of comes together with needing capability in advanced geospatial analysis, modeling and mapping.
Speaker 2:Exactly so. It's not just storing and sharing data. It's about being able to derive real insights, build predictive models, create compelling maps and visualizations that actually help people understand and make decisions.
Speaker 1:OK, so the bottom line, the so what? Why should you, the listener, care about the details of a government document on geospatial shared services?
Speaker 2:Well managing this huge amount of location data efficiently and effectively has really significant implications for all of us, I know so it can lead to better, more evidence-based policy decisions, more impactful science and, ultimately, more efficient and responsive public services. Think about everything from optimizing emergency response.
Speaker 1:Like for hurricanes or wildfire.
Speaker 2:Exactly, or making smarter infrastructure investments. Where do we need new roads or bridges? Good data helps answer that.
Speaker 1:Right and the big emphasis on open standards and interoperability. That benefits everyone, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:It really does. It means valuable data becomes more accessible, more usable across different platforms by more people. It helps break down those data silos we talked about.
Speaker 1:What also seems crucial is the focus on security that FISMA compliance thing and accessibility meeting Section 508 standards.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That shows the government's commitment to managing the data responsibly and making sure it's available to all citizens, including those with disabilities.
Speaker 1:And they're not just throwing raw data out there. The document mentions rigorous quality assurance and control measures.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they want to be confident in the accuracy, clarity and timeliness of the information. Reliability is key.
Speaker 1:Makes sense. What else stood out?
Speaker 2:The requirement for comprehensive transition services. That's important for continuity. It ensures these vital services keep running smoothly when or if new contractors come on board.
Speaker 1:Good point and the security checks for contractor staff background checks, piv credentials.
Speaker 2:It just reflects the potentially sensitive nature of some of the data they'll be handling. Standard procedure for this kind of work.
Speaker 1:And finally, while most work might be remote, they do mention a preference for contractors having staff locally available in the DC area.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that suggests some in-person collaboration or on-site support might still be needed sometimes.
Speaker 1:Okay, so to wrap up our deep dive.
Speaker 2:To bring it all together. The USGS, working for the FGDC, is actively looking for strategic partners to fundamentally improve how the federal government manages, integrates and shares its massive collection of geospatial data.
Speaker 1:And this is way more than just maps, right, it's foundational stuff. It underpins so many critical activities and really influences how we understand the world.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and as we've explored this, sources sought notice isn't the end game, it's really just the beginning.
Speaker 1:The first step.
Speaker 2:It's crucial market research, the initial move in what looks like a significant ongoing commitment to harness the power of geospatial information for everyone's benefit.
Speaker 1:It really makes you think about the huge potential locked up in all this location data, if it's managed well.
Speaker 2:The impact spreads across so many areas environmental monitoring, city planning, public health, national security. The list goes on. So that brings us to our final thought for you to consider security.
Speaker 1:the list goes on. So that brings us to our final thought for you to consider what amazing new insights, what innovative solutions could be unlocked if we had even more seamless integration, even broader access to this incredible wealth of geospatial data.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what intriguing questions does this whole deep dive spark for you about how we perceive and how we interact with a really complex world?